Intentions to Marry, 1917 Rangiora to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840474, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1917 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1917f contains pages 2197-2786, covering districts from Rangiora to Chatham Islands

Page 2352

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 1917 Registrar William Ewart Gladstone, Deputy

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

146

12 April 1917

John Starr
Irene Lillian Bardsley

John Starr
Irene Lillian Bardoley
💍 1917/2477

Divorced 27 November 1912
Spinster

Hairdresser

29
24

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
22 years

House of E Bardsley, 413 High Street, Dunedin

1673

12 April 1917

Rev. C Dallaston

No	146
Date of Notice	12 April 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Starr	Irene Lillian Bardsley
BDM Match (98%)	John Starr	Irene Lillian Bardoley
	💍 1917/2477
Condition	Divorced 27 November 1912	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of E Bardsley, 413 High Street, Dunedin
Folio	1673
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. C Dallaston

147

13 April 1917

Alexander Hardie
Christina Campbell

Alexander Hardie
Christina Campbell
💍 1917/2486

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Schoolteacher

38
33

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 week
5 days

House of G T K McKenzie, 27 Jospehine Street, Caversham

1674

13 April 1917

Rev R Fairmaid

No	147
Date of Notice	13 April 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Hardie	Christina Campbell
	💍 1917/2486
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Schoolteacher
Age	38	33
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 week	5 days
Marriage Place	House of G T K McKenzie, 27 Jospehine Street, Caversham
Folio	1674
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev R Fairmaid

148

13 April 1917

John Joseph Doudle
Mary Finnerty

John Joseph Doudle
Mary Finnerty
💍 1917/4092

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

22
24

Dunedin
Dunedin

18 years
24 years

Sacred Heart Church, North East Valley

3340

13 April 1917

Rev. J. Coffey

No	148
Date of Notice	13 April 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph Doudle	Mary Finnerty
	💍 1917/4092
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Sacred Heart Church, North East Valley
Folio	3340
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Coffey

149

13 April 1917

Spencer James Ambrose
Emily Ure

Spencer James Ambrose
Emily Ure
💍 1917/2497

Widower 22 August 1915
Spinster

Estate Agent

39
31

Wellington
Dunedin

39 years
13 days

Methodist Church, Whity Street, Mornington

1675

13 April 1917

Rev. W. Greenslade

No	149
Date of Notice	13 April 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Spencer James Ambrose	Emily Ure
	💍 1917/2497
Condition	Widower 22 August 1915	Spinster
Profession	Estate Agent
Age	39	31
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Dunedin
Length of Residence	39 years	13 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Whity Street, Mornington
Folio	1675
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Greenslade

150

13 April 1917

David Young
Elinor Mary Lockhart

David Young
Elinor Mary Lockhart
💍 1917/2504

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

31
29

Sandymount
St Kilda

31 years
8 years

Presbyterian Church, Queens Drive, St Kilda

1676

13 April 1917

Rev. R. S. Allan

No	150
Date of Notice	13 April 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Young	Elinor Mary Lockhart
	💍 1917/2504
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Sandymount	St Kilda
Length of Residence	31 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Queens Drive, St Kilda
Folio	1676
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. S. Allan

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).